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| Cortland and Ithaca will return to Yankee Stadium, where they last played in 2022. Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com |
The “biggest little game in the nation” is headed back to the Bronx.
The annual Cortaca Jug football rivalry between SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College will return to Yankee Stadium for its 67th edition in 2026, marking the third time the historic Division III game takes place at a professional sports venue in the greater New York City area.
The contest is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, with the kickoff time to be announced at a later date. The 2025 game takes place at noon this Saturday, Nov. 15, at Ithaca College’s Butterfield Stadium.
Tickets for the Yankee Stadium game go on sale for the general public Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, at 10 a.m., exclusively through Ticketmaster. Prices range from $27.50 to $89.
SUNY Cortland students will have access to reserved seating sections through a special pre-sale opportunity beginning Wednesday, Nov. 19. More details will be shared through SUNY Cortland email.
The Cortaca Jug already claims the two largest crowds in Division III football history, setting an attendance record in 2019 with 45,161 fans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and 40,232 at Yankee Stadium in 2022. Previously, St. John's and St. Thomas had played a game at Target Field, the MLB home of the Minnesota Twins, and Allianz Field, home of MN United in MLS. This year, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy are playing at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.
While the venue is best known as the home of Major League Baseball’s winningest franchise, Yankee Stadium also hosts the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl as well as other marquee college football games. Cortland, the 2023 Division III national champions, will serve as the designated home team in 2026.
“Cortland and Ithaca both help set the standard in Division III athletics, and our Cortaca Jug rivalry demonstrates that shared excellence,” said Mike Urtz ’94, M ’00, director of athletics at Cortland. “It’s been called ‘the biggest little game in the nation’ for a reason, and it’s fitting to be played in one of the most iconic sports venues in the entire world.”
The annual football showdown between Cortland’s Red Dragons and Ithaca’s Bombers takes place in the last week of the regular season. It has long been considered one of the greatest rivalries in Division III athletics because of the storied histories of both programs, the close proximity of the two campuses and many thrilling finishes.
In 1991, Sports Illustrated referred to the game as “the biggest little game in the nation.”
“The Cortaca Jug stands out as one of our university’s most cherished traditions and a special bond that unites Red Dragons of all class years,” said SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum. “Bringing the game back to New York City provides an extraordinary opportunity to engage with dedicated alumni while sharing SUNY Cortland’s name on an even bigger stage.
“Both institutions won when Yankee Stadium hosted us in 2022, and we’re looking forward to reaching new heights next year.”
The experience also will be something new for Cortland head football coach Tom Blumenauer, who graduated from Ithaca in 2007 and currently owns an 8-1 record in his first season leading the Red Dragons.
“I know how much the Cortaca Jug game means, having played and now coached on different sides of it,” said Blumenauer, who guided the Red Dragons to their fifth straight Empire 8 Conference title in 2025. “Playing in a historic venue like Yankee Stadium only makes the rivalry that much more special. I’m excited for a new group of student-athletes to get to share in that experience.”
Representatives from the Yankees organization shared a similar sentiment.
“We couldn’t be more excited to host the Cortaca Jug matchup for a second time at Yankee Stadium,” said Mark Holtzman, vice president of non-baseball sports events for the Yankees. “The 2022 game was a perfect college football afternoon filled with tremendous warmth and energy from the students, alumni and fans of both schools.
“As soon as the game concluded, we wanted to do it again, and we deeply appreciate that the administrations of SUNY Cortland and Ithaca felt the same way.”
The 2026 contest will mark the 67th time that Cortland and Ithaca — located just 21 miles apart from each other in upstate New York — have squared off for the Cortaca Jug.
Although the schools first started playing each other in 1930, the rivalry originated in 1959, when friends and respective team captains Tom Decker ’61 of Cortland and Dick Carmean of Ithaca picked up a jug at a yard sale to serve as the prize for the winner of the annual game between the schools.
Each year’s result is painted on the Cortaca Jug. The original ran out of room for scores in the mid-1980s, and the teams are now on their third one. Ithaca leads the overall series, 43-36-3, and the Jug series, 38-27, with Cortland claiming back-to-back victories headed into the 2025 game.
Initial details about the 2026 game at Yankee Stadium are available on the SUNY Cortland website.